Jeff Wyant paused in disbelief.

The Park City High School cross-country head coach saw a rebuilding year finish with a state trophy, coupled with a third-place prize and an individual 3A state title Wednesday at Sugar House Park.

Not too shabby for a so-called rebuilding year.

“It’s been a good season, and we’ve had a lot of good things happening with a lot of young girls that are suddenly running really well,” Wyant said. “We’ve got better freshmen than we’ve ever had.

“But this is a rebuilding year for us; we still managed to take first and third. Not bad, but not what we hoped for.”

The Miners took first in the 3A girls’ race, placing four runners in the top 10, including Ali Walker, who took second, and Devon Dunmire, who took fourth. Rebecca Cunningham and Emily Schmitt rounded out the top 10 finishing ninth and tenth.

“We slid by,” said Wyant in regard to the girls’ race. “We didn’t have the best day ever, but you know, when you can win state on a bad day, I guess that’s pretty good for them.”

Walker was thrilled with her team’s overall performance and her second-place finish.

“It feels really good,” said a jovial Walker. “But it was hard, definitely. I like it that way.”

The Miners took the title by five points over second place Cedar High School.

The surprise of the day came when the Bear River Bears shocked the field, winning the 3A boys’ title. The underdog Bears finished with a score of 50, followed by Canyon View with 56 and Park City with 58.

“We were kind of expecting to win it,” Wyant said. “Bear River stepped up. They really ran well.”

Not as well as Ben Saarel.

The sophomore in his first year at Park City High School dominated the boys’ race from start to finish, taking first place by 40 seconds.

Saarel finished the race with a time of 15 minutes and 56 seconds, 13 seconds behind the state record for a sophomore. Wyant said he broke the school’s sophomore record.

“Ben, what can you say? State champion as a sophomore,” Wyant said.

Saarel has been dealing with a lingering sickness that Wyant said was some sort of bronchitis that quite a few members of his team had picked up and had to address.

The 2010 3A state champion said he was a bit frustrated, feeling he could have finished a little faster.

“I was hoping for a little bit more (of a result),” Saarel said. “But I’m really happy for what I did.”

Wyant went on to say that if someone could have kept up with Saarel, he could have been motivated to push harder down the stretch.

Saarel concurred with his head coach.

“It’s terrible,” he said, referring to running alone in the front. “It really is a lot harder.”

Miner Connor Gideon came in seventh, while teammates Ray Smith and Christian Orr finished 14th and 15th.

While Wyant was hungry for a sweep, the future is bright for his young team, with a star on the rise and a couple more trophies waiting to be added to the collection.

North Summit, South Summit finish strong at 2A state meet

Summit County was well represented at the Utah state cross-country meet.

The North Summit cross-country team finished third in the girls’ race, while the boys came in fifth. The Braves’ Erica Birk took home the individual 2A state title for the second straight year, as she finished with a time of 19 minutes and 17 seconds, more than a minute in front of the second-place finisher. Garret Rowser finished seventh overall in the boys’ race with a time of 17 minutes and 47 seconds.

The South Summit Wildcats took fourth overall in the girls’ race, while the boys’ came in seventh overall. Grace Shultz came in fourth in the individual girls’ race with a time of 20 minutes and 51 seconds. Pat Shultz finished 10th in the boys’ race with a time of 18 minutes even.